Peter:

I did bring donuts...Apple Fritters the size of bowling balls. Nice to meet you, Mauve and Dan.

Jerry, as to your question about how I approach songwriting, it tends to be a group effort. I like to write songs with my incredibly talented banjo-playing wife, and when we're working on one, there's generally other folks involved, too. For some reason, those songs are the best ones. I may have an idea, a chorus, or a melody, but the fun for me is getting together with other people and coming up with a finished song (if a song is ever finished).   

I tend to gravitate toward songs that tell stories--My mom's folks came from the Ozarks and I grew up with stories about their journey to Oregon, and some of those I've tried to form into songs. I wrote one called "Bound For Lakeview" about my grandfather.

Other songs come from interesting experiences. For example, when Kate and I got married, we went to Astoria, Oregon on our honeymoon. One day, we stopped into a place called "Mary Todd's Worker's Tavern" down in Uniontown, the old Finnish part of Astoria. I asked the waitress if she knew of any old union halls that I could check out, and she directed me to a man named Pops who was quietly nursing a beer at the bar. Now Pops must have been in his late eighties, and he proceeded to tell us all sorts of strange historical facts about Astoria. When he was finished, he said to us: "You know, Astoria started to go downhill when they took the red lights off of the porches and put them in the intersections." Kate and I just looked at each other, and we knew we had a song. We wrote "Progress and Porchlights" about that experience.

One thing I've learned over the last couple of years when it comes to songwriting is that you have to put aside the ego. The suggestions that I've received from band members, not too mention the friendly criticism has only helped me to grow. We tend to spend a lot of time on our songs. Quality vs. quantity. And then there's all the people who lived the stuff that we sing about. Every family has these amazing stories that come from parents, grandparents, children, etc. and many times they make for great songs. I take some dramatic license of course, but the stories come from real people about real events.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I'd love to hear about how other folks come up with ideas.

Nathan.